van etten



June 2, 1931' I w. v. VAN ETTEN 1,807,678-

MONKEY WRENCH Filed July 19. 1928 Fig.1 Fig.2 Fig.3

i 12 I 17 1 16' i 'ble INVENTOR, Z/Aim& h/ 6m,

Patented June 2; 1931 1 lU NlT-E-D STAT wrnnrmvr v. ELAN on BELLINTGHL'AM, XVASHINGTON MONKEY wnnnon- Application .filed July .19,

'My invention relates to improvements in monkey wrenches and has for an object to provide "a wrenchin which the desired adjustment of the wrench jaws may be made 5 by the hand holding the wrench quickly while saidjawsare in proximity tothe'work. Another object of .my improvement is to provide a quick setting wrenchadjustable to 7 small difi'erences.

Another object of my improvement is to provide a design for the holding mechanism of a quick-setting wrench which promotes strength and ease of operation.

Another object of my improvement is to provide a wrench the loose jaw of which is movable by gravity or by momentum toward other positions thereof and engageable in a desired position during said movements.

Other objects of my improvement will ap- 29 pear as the description proceeds.

The mechanism by which I attain these and other objects of my improvement is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of an offset-handle wrench with my holding and adjusting mechanism in place thereon, Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of Fig. 1 with the handle broken away Fig. 3 is the rear elevation of Fig. 1 with the handle broken away and F ig- 4 is a cross section of F ig. 1 on the line H thereof.

bimilar characters refer to similar throughout.

With more particular reference to the designated parts: A wrench having handle 5 and fixed aw 6 has a transverse'guide slot 7 extended entirely across the head of the wrench including an opening through the fixed jaw, and on one wall of said slot is guide rib 8. Rectangular opening 9 in said head intersects slot 7 and extends into the shank beneath said slot. In the front and back walls of the wrench head and tributary to slot 7 the corners of opening 9 are extended in notches 10, 10.

Movable jaw 11 has arm 12 integral therewith and mounted for reciprocation in slideway 7 with slot 13 therein engaged with rib guide 8.

The lower edge of arm 12 slants upward parts 1928. Serial .No. l293,3,8 9.

toward the rear and has verse teeth 14 thereon.

'a rack with trans- A pin having thumb head 15' is fastened in the front side'of arm 12 and enters notches 10 10 as jaw 11 reeiproeates; the bottoms of said notches serving limit the movement of as stops to said; pin to said jaw from ,its'

dotted-line position at -1l 1110 its dottetl line position at 131".

Tumbler '16 is pivoted'to oscillate ing 9 on pin 17 which is finopeiiextended through a hole in the wrench head parallel with guideway '7. Tumbler 16-has thumb rib 18 protruding from the front wall and the lower part :16 of said tu'mbleris oflarger'di'ameter than the upper partthereo'fat 616, saidrlower,

part being-eccentric withp'in 17'.

Flat spring 19 is fastened to the handle by screw 20 and' bears-on the eccentric par beneath rib-18 where it is t-dlG ofthe tunibler' smallest when said tumbler is inits fulldineposition' But-when the tumbler'is turned on pin -171to its clottedline'pos'ition at 16spring IQ isfleXeditherby 'Thusf it-is clearthat said springtends to turn-thegtumblerfin a reverse direction. A rack comp integral with the upper w all of-tumbler '16 osed of teeth 21 is and slants upward-from its smallerdiameter at 616 to engage witlrteeth of the rack on arm 12.

When tumbler 16 'is in its full-line-position teeth 21 are fully engaged *with'teeth '14:.1aIld their bearing thereon is maintained by pressure fromspring 19; but =whenxthe tumbler is moved to itstlotte'd positiona't .16, with rib 18-at 18,the-teethhave moved'to their dottedline position-at"21 entirely out of engage-.

ment with'teeth 14 of arm 12;, As stated, when-tumbler $16 is in *the said dotted -position spring 19 is flexed to its dottedposition at 19 andreacts most strongly to return the tumbler to'its full-'linepos'ition with'teeth 21 engaged with teeth 14.

From which it ,is'

evident that withthe tumblerin itsfulL-line position aw arm 312*is retained bythe tumbler-from movement,-while'with said tumbler in its dotted position sai engagementwith theitumbler and jawj-ll may. desired toany position between he moved as 1ts extreme llmltsat 11 a d arm is freefrom Then the wrench handle 5 is held in the right hand of an operative his thumb of that hand may bear upon rib 18 and move it upward against the reaction of spring 19, thus setting free loose jaw 11 which may then be set in a desired position in adjustment either against the work or free therefrom; and when said thumb pressure is released from rib 18 spring 19 will react to return the tumbler to engagement with the jaw arm and said loose jaw will be retained in its adjusted position relative to fixed aw 6.

While the operatives thumb is bearing on rib 18 it is within reach of cross hatched pin head 15 and, when said rib is at 18, this pin may be moved by the thumb'as said thumb slides on the rib which is made to extend the entire length of the tumbler for this purpose. Thus, it is clear that with one hand alone an operative may hold, set and turn my wrench in desired directions to suit the nature of the work being performed.

The eccentric part of the tumbler is exposed at the rear of the wrench also and jaw 11 may be released by pressure from a finger applied thereto.

A useful feature of my wrench is made possible by the described location of tumbler 16 in the wrench head whereby during periods when tumbler engagement with the loose jaw is withheld by thumb pressure on rib 18, the loose jaw may be caused to gravitate either toward or from the fixed jaw by a twist of the wrist of the operative holding the wrench handle and when the loose aw reaches the desired new location it may be caught and held therein by the tumbler released from thumb pressure on rib 18. The same relative movement of the loose jaw may be caused by a sudden lateral swing of the wrench handle while held by the operative and said loose jaw may be caught and held by the released tumbler as before.

The size of teeth 14 and 21 shown is for the benefit of the illustration, in practice they are made smaller to provide for small adj ustments of the loose jaw.

The shape of handle 5 as well as the sha e and relative proportions of other parts of tlie wrench as illustrated may be changed to suit the nature of the work to be performed or the preferences of operatives. Such other shapes and proportions which depend for their usefulness on the principles of my invention are also within its purview.

Having thus disclosed my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

In an adjustable wrench, a fixed jaw fastened to a wrench head, said wrench head having a slideway opening therethrough from edge to edge and a. tumbler opening therethrough from side to side thereof intersecting said slideway opening, a loose jaw, an arm fastened to said loose jaw at right angles with the work face thereof, engageable in said slideway for reciprocation and having a beveled outer edge with a toothed rack thereon, a thumb-hold pin fastened in said arm protruding from one side thereof through said intersection of said tumbler opening and said slideway opening, a bearing pin extended through said head across said tumbler opening parallel with said slideway, a tumbler mounted eccentrically on said bearing pin in said tumbler opening for oscillation and having a toothed rack thereon engageable with and disengageable from said arm rack by the oscillation of said tumbler on said bearing pin, a rib on the exposed surface of the tumbler lengthwise thereof adjacent the said thumb-hold pin to provide a thumb hold, a wrench handle fastened to said head, and a flat spring fastened to said handle and bearing on said eccentric tumbler to react and cause the same to return to engagement with said loose jaw arm.

WILLIAM V. VAN ETTEN. 

